Wooden Dragonfly
Not truly plants, but rather insects with remarkable camouflage, wooden dragonflies are friends to all magic-users and considered by many to be guardians of special magic-bearing trees. Their roughened bodies and veined wings are suited to blend in with the tree species they were born on, and so when resting are effectively invisible amongst the branches, even when they are right in front of you. The only betrayal to their position might be a brief flutter of the wings or any similar movement, which often precedes the creature leaping off into the wind and vanishing to the top of the trees. They are rather shy creatures, but they will dart around and around a particular tree if they sense a worthy magic-user approaching. This sort of flying tends to draw attention, and indicates to the magi that they may use the tree to craft a wand. The benefit of the dragonfly is that, if the crafting is done properly, it can ensure the tree's magic will live on inside the wand, allowing it to influence the World long after the tree itself has perished. Such tools are highly prized, for they are said to be the most durable and powerful of wands, though they cannot be used to harm others or else they will backfire and snap in two. Wands stolen from the trees the dragonflies guard are said to be cursed, and are only ever used by the vilest of wizards. Egg What you thought was a flake of bark appears on closer inspection to be a very small rough egg. Hatchling Most dragonfly nymphs are aquatic, feeding on mosquito larvae and other water-dwelling insects, but the wooden dragonfly's juvenile stage is spent wholly on land. They keep to the tree their egg was laid upon, defending it fiercely from any insect predators that would burrow into its bark or break into the tree's sap. Though small, wooden dragonfly larvae are like tigers to smaller organisms, armed with barbed hooks near their jaws and lightning-fast reflexes. They can get around well enough by sight, but oddly among nymphal insects, they also have highly acute eyesight. Though it may take several years for them to pupate and emerge as winged adults, the nymphs still seem to have the same magical awareness as their parents. A well-trained eye walking through the forest might spot hundreds of small orange eyes peering at them from inside nooks and crannies in the bark. Adult It was once thought that wooden dragonflies could only land on a single individual tree in their entire lives, and that these trees were imbued with a special sort of magic from the dragonflies' care. The reality of these insects is less poetic, for they can indeed move around from tree to tree once their wings sprout, and they don't show any particular affinity for any one tree. They do tend to favor particular tree species, however, and do seem to guard these trees from harm, at least if it comes along in leaf-eating insect form. The dragonflies are carnivorous, feeding on beetles, butterflies, moths, weevils, cicadas, katydids, grasshoppers, and other forest insects. Although wooden dragonflies are most well-known from the forest of Silva, they can occur in more tropical environments as well. In the warm jungles of more tropical regions, wooden dragonflies are far more secretive and tend to grow large, but they will still lead magi to special wand-producing trees on rare occasions. Breeding :Not available. Additional Information *No. 1038 *Obtained from The Stream (uncommon) *Released: October 15th, 2019 *Sprites: Jrap17 *Description: PKGriffin Category:2019 Creatures Category:Stream-born Category:Artist: Jrap17 Category:Insects